Contact: Alagaesia
by jamiecreswell
Summary: The Spirit of Fire crashes down in Alagaesia and it's crew form an alliance with the Varden, only to be followed by the Jiralhanae and the Flood. A four way war erupts, bringing up secrets left by the forerunners. Only one side will come out of the fire alive. Set a day before the battle of the burning plains and twenty eight years after the events of Halo Wars.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1, Awaking 

''Captain, wake up. Something's happened.''

James Cutter awoke his vision dark. Reaching out with both hands, he pulled himself out of the status pod that had been his bed for god knows how long. Groaning, his eyes adjusted to the cold steel floor. His legs wobbled from the strain of not being used for so long and his grip on the pod prevented him from toppling over. After waiting for nearly a minute, Cutter tried to transfer his weight to his legs again and managed to stay upright.

Cutter took in his surroundings, hundreds of other status pods aligned both sides of the wall, some were empty while others contained a human being frozen in status. The sight of the empty pods was like a hammer blow to Cutter. Each pod not containing a human meant the person supposed to be in it was either missing in action or dead. Memories flowed through his mind like a river _. . . the shield world . . . these parasites . . . the prophets. . . . The campaign of Harvest . . . . The massacre of Arcadia at the hands of the Covenant._

''Captain in case you didn't hear me, I need you on the bridge right now so move it.'' Serina's voice spoke with a hint of dry sarcasm.

Cutter groaned in annoyance. Slowly, he made his way out of the status room and onto the bridge. A hologram displaying Serina's avatar, a young, slim woman with shoulder length dark hair dressed in jeans, shirt and a white lab coat, sat on the control panel. Cutter noticed his cap on his desk and placed it on his head and sat down in his chair.

''I trust you slept well Captain?'' asked Serina, arms folded.

''What's the date? How long since the shield world?''Cutter stammered, glancing at the Al.

''In answer to your first question, the date is October the second 2559. You and the remaining crew have been in status for twenty-eight years, four months and five days.'' Serina replied, shrugging her shoulders.

'_Twenty-eight years!' _Cutter gasped in shock at Serina. ''Twenty-eight years'' he said aloud, hoping it was less and he had misunderstood her.

''I did say twenty-eight years captain. Would you like me to say it again,'' asked Serina, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

Cutter ignored the jab and asked ''Why did you wake me?''

''While watching the scanners, I noticed a planet. It is roughly the same size of Earth and has an atmosphere capable of supporting life. I searched some files and came up with nothing on it, meaning it is an unexplored planet. So far, I can't confirm if it is inhabited. If I were to change course of The Spirit of Fire, we would arrive there in roughly seven hours.'' Serina answered.

Cutter frowned as he thought to himself. An unexplored planet? They could land and resupply their

''Exactly how many working aircraft and vehicles do we have onboard?'' Cutter asked, turning his chair to face Serina.

''We currently have a limited supply of aircraft. A pair of Longswords fighters, nineteen Pelican dropships, sixteen Hornet, Hawk and Falcon choppers and a pair of Vulture gunships is all we have. Luckily, we have more ground transport; twenty five Warthog assault vehicles armed with anti aircraft machine guns, gauss cannons and rocket turrets, six Scorpions tanks, twelve Mongoose bikes, two Grizzly tanks, five Elephant transports, four anti air Wolverines and seven Gremlin support vehicles

''What of the _Spirit of Fire?'' _

''The _Spirit _tookheavy damage when we collided with that covenant destroyer. The Magnetic Accelerator Cannon is still operational as are most of the ATAF missile pods and point defence guns. However, only three heavy deck guns on the starboard side are currently undamaged. The rest are beyond repair.

''And what of our manpower and supplies?'' inquired Cutter.

''Due to the recent losses on Harvest, Arcadia and The Shield World, our number of crew has dropped severely. We currently have one thousand, two hundred and ninety six out of our original number of eleven thousand. Eight hundred and seventy are UNSC marines, one hundred and seventeen are ODSTs and SPARTAN Red team. The remaining three hundred and six are made up of technicians, ONI, pilots, scientists, medical and navel personal. Also our supplies are extremely limited, only enough drinking water and rationed food to last a few weeks at the most. However, we have enough fuel to last over a year if used in moderation.

Cutter felt like he had been punched in the gut. Eighty nine per cent of his crew were dead!? Sorrow overcame him as he thought of The Spirit of Fire's dead crew. While he did not know all their names, he would always make sure to remember the name of any crew member whom he crossed paths with during his duties.

Names and faces began to flash through his mind; Lt Daniel Sanders, the caring and deadly ODST trooper and his younger, cheery, headstrong sister Vicky (also an ODST), Wendell Brennan, the quiet, shy yet well meaning technician, Cp. Sarah Reily, the joking, daredevil Longsword fighter pilot, Sgt John Forge, the disobedient marine who had slew an arbiter were the first ones that Cutter thought of.

Other then Forge, Cutter had no idea if any of them were still alive. Making a mental note to find out, he turned his chair to face the glass viewpoint, '' Serina, chart a course for the planet. Thaw out the rest of the crew and bring them up to date on what has happened.''

''Yes sir. After I finish my research on human relationships and chocolate.''

''NOW SERINA!''

(Five hours later)

Daniel Sanders groaned, he rolled his shoulders, his body still adjusting to moving.

''Still feeling stiff?'' asked Vicky, grinning at her older brother's discomfit.

''I've felt better'' he admitted, drawing his combat knife from his harness, watching himself in the knifes reflection. Daniel was tall, almost six four with short brown hair that he always combed backwards. Dark, blue eyes that matched his sister's were perhaps Daniel's most noticeable features as people were always commenting about them, which annoyed him to no end, much to Vicky's amusement.

Daniel spun the knife so he was holding it by the blade and with speed that matched a Spartan's, threw it. It continued its course across the room to land on a life size poster of a Covenant elite hung on the wall. Vicky grinned, ''nice shot.'' The knife had imbedded itself in the elite's chest, directly where one of its hearts would be. ''But I bet I can do better.''

Pulling the knife from the wall, Vicky walked over to where Daniel was standing, aimed and threw. The knife sliced through the poster, landing half a foot below the elite's waist.

''Missed'' was all Daniel said, staring at the poster.

''No I didn't. I was aiming there all along'' grinned Vicky at her brother who shook his head.

Vicky had been a prankster since she could talk, even onboard the Spirit of Fire she pulled pranks on everyone. Everyone's favourite was when Vicky had hacked secret ONI files with what everyone else thought at the time to be a dangerous computer virus. Serina had of course blocked Vicky off, but that was only a diversion so Vicky could hack Serina and change the appearance of her avatar to a naked leprechaun and displayed it all over the ship, much to the crew's amusement and Serina's anger.

Vicky was short, five foot six tall with brown hair, a lighter shade of brown then her brother's that was tied into a pony tail and a face with high cheekbones and pale skin. Her slender figure and goofy grin always attracted attention from men who were always asking her out, to which she replied with a refusal and a water balloon.

A sliding door opened and in walked a woman dressed in a grey tee and green and brown pants similar to what the Sanders were wearing. Her long, dark hair was braided with brown skin and eyes to match.

Vicky's eyes widened at the sight of the other woman before her, ''Sarah'' she cried in happiness and embraced her, who happily reciprocated. Sarah withdrew her arms from her best friend and fisted Daniel's closed hand with her own gloved fist.

''Hey guys, good to see you're both still alive and kicking!'' Sarah said, smiling at her two friends who were equally happy.

''So what happened to you? We thought you were dead when your fighter crashed on that godforsaken shield world.'' Daniel asked.

''Well'' Sarah said like she was remembering some long forgotten memory, ''what happened was . . . . .''

_(Flashback)_

''_Seraph down! Yee hah!'' Sarah exclaimed from the seat of her Longsword as the purple covenant aircraft crashed into the ground and exploded into flames. _

_Green plasma suddenly shot past her, missing her craft by a matter of meters. Sarah rolled her craft to avoid a second barrage. Another Seraph flew past, a Longsword in pursuit. _

_The Longsword opened fire with its 110mm rotary cannons, tearing the alien craft to shreds._

''_Hey Sarah, that makes my third kill'' her wingman boasted, a man named Jimmy. _

''_Oh yeah, I'm on nine already!'' Sarah shouted back playfully. _

_The two Longswords suddenly found themselves under a hail of green plasma from a half dozen or so Seraph fighters. The two Longswords dived downwards towards the ground, the aliens in pursuit. Just when they were about to hit the ground, Sarah and Jimmy hit the brakes and applied force to their joysticks, coming up meters from the ground and scattering a platoon of panicking grunts. _

_The Seraphs tried to follow but one didn't pull up in time and crash landed on top of the grunts, causing chaos and death in their ranks. The two Longswords pulled up; flying up the slope of a mountain with the remaining five Seraphs close behind. Massive cliffs that expanded from the mountain threatened to crush the seven aircraft that dodged and rolled to avoid crashing, one Seraph failed to avoid the obstacles, tearing off its wing a few seconds before exploding against the mountainside, killing the pilot instantly._

_The Seraphs all fired at once, a storm of green plasma raced towards the Longswords. Both Sarah and Jimmy rolled their crafts, dodging the deadly package. The plasma torpedos raced ahead to explode against the cliffs, sending a hundred tons of rock and dirt raining down. Sarah screamed in surprise as several rocks the size of basketballs pelted against the windshield, cracking the glass, but luckily it held._

_Jimmy was not so lucky, a massive rock the size of a car impacted against his craft, knocking it out of control towards the mountainside. The Longsword impacted against the mountain and exploded into pieces._

_Sarah sighed in relief when she saw a pair of parachutes signifying that Jimmy or his co-pilot had managed to punch the ejection button. The Seraphs changed course to face the floating parachutes. _

''_Hold on Jimmy I'm coming'' Sarah shouted. She did a u turn and raced back down the mountain and opened fire on the Seraphs, taking down one. Suddenly something heavy impacted against her ship's hull with a soft slap, Sarah ignored it. Her own co-pilot shouted a warning. Glancing out the window, Sarah gasped as she saw thousands of those dirty yellow injection forms raining down on the Seraphs like wildfire. The parasites clung to the alien craft and quickly overwhelmed the alien pilots._

_Sarah watched in horror as dozens of the things landed on the parachutes and held on. The co-pilot screamed, waving his arms as the parasites buried inside his armour. His cries became an agonizing screech as he was turned into six foot walking parasite from hell from the inside. Jimmy stayed calm as several forms crawled down the ropes connecting his harness to the parachute. Drawing his service pistol, Jimmy killed his co-pilot with a shot to the head, putting the man out of his suffering._

_Aiming upwards, Jimmy fired, blasting the spores to pieces. He landed on the mountainside, his chute softening his fall. Sarah gasped in surprise as a elite combat form crashed through the windshield. Acting on instinct, she withdrew her pistol and fired three shots into the hideous thing. The form roared and wrapped its arm around Sarah who dropped her gun and grabbed the thing's arm. The last thing Sarah saw before she passed out was the ground rushing up the meet her._

''Holy shit!'' exclaimed Vicky, causing several officers to glance at her. She, Sarah and Daniel were all in the mess hall sitting at their own table, eating rationed food that tasted like well . . . . nothing.

''Well since your still here with us, I'm guessing you made it back.'' Daniel commented, taking a sip from a plastic cup.''

''Yeah, well I was pretty banged up in the crash.'' Sarah admitted, running a hand through her hair.

''So then what happened?'' asked Vicky, despite to know more.

Sarah was about to answer when suddenly the alarm started blaring, refusing to be ignored. Cutter's voice boomed from loudspeakers, ''all personal be advised, the parasite have boarded the ship! All non military personal get to the safe room. Everyone else report to the barracks. We have to lock down the ship or we're all dead!''

(Ten minutes earlier)

''Captain we have contacts inbound! Ten covenant phantoms dropships eta two minutes sixteen seconds!'' Serina's voice was heard by everyone on the bridge, heads turning as they heard this.

''What!'', Cutter gasped. Where did they all come from? The scanners should have picked them up. ''How did the hell they get so close without being detected?'' Cutter asked.

''I'm baffled sir. There are no covenant cruisers nearby and I haven't picked up any silpspace portals. They weren't there one minute then they were the next. The phantoms are approaching from the starboard side, heading towards the hanger bay.

Cutter thought hard. The main reason why he captained a ship was his ability to keep calm in tense situations and coming with the best response to any situation in a matter of seconds. He turned to Serina. ''What's the status of the deck guns?"

''Most are damaged or completely destroyed. However, deck guns six, eight and nine on the starboard side are operational.''

''Serina, charge them up and then activate the anti aircraft rail guns.'' Cutter ordered, the bridge crew scattered to follow his orders.

''No need to. I already have.'' Serina smiled, stopping the crew in their tracks.

Cutter frowned, ''it would take four minutes at the least, even for an AI to do that. How did you manage to do it so quickly?''

''I didn't. It actually took me three minutes and fifty eight seconds.'' Serina replied, her arms crossed over her chest.

''Wait! You're scanners picked them up almost four minutes ago and you only notified me now!'' Cutter growled angrily.

''I was busy charging the weapons and it didn't occur to me to tell you then. You're welcome by the way'' Serina explained sarcastically.

''Do that again and I'll have Anders dismantle you'' Cutter threatened, ''all guns open fire!''

Space suddenly became a fireworks display as the deck and rail guns opened fire, sending swarms of rounds into the advancing phantoms, shredding two of them before they exploded into pieces of debris.

The remaining eight phantoms employed evasive manoeuvrers and continued their course towards the hanger, the guns tracking their movements. A round from one of the deck guns smashed through one of the remaining phantoms and continued through into the cargo bay, tearing the purple craft in half. The phantoms continued their path; flying underneath the deck gun's firing range to fly without slowing straight into The Spirit of Fire's hanger.

''Damn it!'' swore Cutter, slamming his fists on the control panel. He turned towards one of the bridge's crew, ''send fireteams Shadow and Omega to eliminate all hostiles now!''

''Yessir'', the crewman obeyed.

The eight man team that made fireteam Shadow advanced through the empty corroder towards the hanger. Each soldier wore UNSC armour that covered their chests, arms and legs with protective helmets to match. Each man carried an assault rifle, expect for the eighth who beared a pump action shotgun.

Rounding the corner, fireteam Shadow entered the hanger and saw the wreckage. The covenant dropships were nothing more than purple piles of scrap metal and machinery. Dead covenant brutes littered the ground; some on fire, others missing limps. The marines quickly spread out, their weapons covering every inch of the hanger, coming up with no live aliens on their sensors. "Area is secure.'' The marines quickly checked in over their COMs, all seven.

"Leek here sir.''

''Reece, looking good.''

''Sheppard, safe and sound.''

''Noritz, over and out.''

''Carlson, clear.''

''Williams, over.''

''Robert, everything peaceful.''

Williams, the commanding officer of the squad realised they were one man short and spoke into his COM, ''Taylor, where are you?'' and received only static. ''This isn't funny Taylor respond now. That's an order.'' Suddenly, fireteam Shadow heard a horrible scream. The type when a person is in horrible agony and believes they are about to die.

The marines ran towards the sound of the cries, Reece being the fasted left the others behind, rifle raised. He raced around a Pelican and saw something that would haunt him forever;

Taylor stood fifteen feet in front of him, muddy brown tentacles producing from his skin that was changing colour to brown. Pieces of his armour broke off as his arms and legs grew in size. Taylor's head disappeared and was replaced with a maw covered in black mandibles. Reece gasped and tripped over his feet, falling on the metal floor. The thing roared and charged, its claws raised to sink into Reece's flesh.

Reece closed his eyes.

The abomination reached him and swung down.

A massive boom echoed painfully throughout Reece's ears. Taylor was blasted backwards as a massive erupted in his chest, blasting him backwards. Taylor gave a choking gurgle and lay still. Reece finally opened his eyes, turned and saw Noritz, a smoking shotgun in his hands.

''You aright kid?'' Noritz asked, concerned for his friend.

Reece stood and nodded, his eyes not leaving the corpse

''Oh shit man, Taylor didn't deserve that. He was a good friend.'' Noritz exclaimed, upset.

The rest fireteam Shadow arrived and gasped at what was left of Taylor. Mutable screeches from some kind of animal echoed throughout the hanger made the marines twist, weapons raised. A red plasma beam from above smashed into Leek's face. Leek screamed in pain as the red hot plasma burned through his helmet and face. His knees buckled and he fell to the ground, smoke rising from what used to be his face. Fireteam Shadow spotted the shooter and opened fire, tearing apart the thing that used to be a alien backwards off the top of the pelican.

Dozens of other forms, appeared and converged on the marines, followed by hundreds of small infection forms. Fireteam Shadow opened fire, killing four of the parasites. Sheppard screamed as he fell to the floor and was dragged under a scorpion tank, his screams ringing until a crunch and they stopped.

''Contact!'' Williams screamed.

Daniel, Vicky and Sarah barged into the armoury, almost tripping over each other in their haste to arm themselves. Dozens of men and women were already there, handing out weapons and armour. Daniel and Vicky accepted ODST suits and quickly climbed inside, pulling the black armour over their clothes. ODST stood for Orbital Drop Shock Trooper or known by their more popular name 'helljumpers' were some of the best soldiers that the UNSC commanded, rivalled only by the SPARTANS. As the name suggested, ODSTs were dropped from naval ships in orbit to the ground in pods. Many considered ODSTs to be crazy, even suicidal.

Daniel and Vicky grabbed black ODST helmets shoved them on which like their armour were made out of titanium that provided a resistance to heat. The helmet faceplates were made with a strong glass like material. Daniel ran over to the wall and grabbed two assault rifles and a handful of magazines from the rack of weapons. Throwing the second rifle to his sister, he turned back to the wall and after carful deciding snatched a shotgun and pistol from the wall.

Daniel shouldered an armoured rucksack, containing ammunition and medical supplies and shoved the shotgun inside before holstering his sidearm. Placing the magazines on his belt, Daniel removed an earpiece from his pocket and shoved it into his ear.

''Captain Cutter, this is Lieutenant Sanders, can you hear me?'' Sander asked, praying that he could.

''Loud and clear, Lieutenant. Good to hear you're still with us.'' Cutter's voice was very distorted, but clear enough to understand what he was saying.''

''Likewise sir, what's the situation?" Sanders questioned.

''Those ugly bastards have overrun the hanger bay and are spreading throughout the entire godamn ship. Fireteam Shadow isn't answering to their COMs. You and your platoon are to retake the hanger and secure the Pelicans for a likely evac. The others will defend the bridge and the reactor. If the Flood overruns the Spirit of Fire, Sernia will activate the self destruct. When the Spirit of Fire breaks through the planet's lower atmosphere, all crew are to abandon ship via Pelican dropships and lifepods. We can't allow the risk of the flood infecting the planet.''

''Yes, sir.'' Sanders answered. A sudden concern struck him. ''Captain, what about Serina? If those things capture her then they would learn the location of Earth and the location of all of humanity's outer world colonies.''

''I'm aware of that Lieutenant. The SPARTANs are here with me on the bridge. Red team will escort Serina to safety if the situation becomes critical. Now get going Sanders, ETA to destination; thirty eight minutes.''

Daniel called over the ODSTs under his command, thirty seven in total, including Vicky. All of them were dressed in black armour and headgear identical to his own. Painted on the right shoulder of each soldier was the symbol of the ODST, a red skull missing its jaw surrounded by a pillar of yellow flames behind the wor in red. Each of his soldiers carried a mixture of weapons; assault rifles, shotguns, sniper rifles, SPARTAN lasers and even flamethrowers.

''Alright troops listen up! Under orders from Cutter we are to clear the hanger from the infestation and secure the dropships and lifepods for evac. Then we head to the HEV pods and jump feet first into hell! Once we hit the surface, we secure a landing site of the Spirit of Fire and salvage whatever we can. Then we link up with the captain and the AI and establish a firebase. Any questions?''

''No sir!'' the ODSTs all shouted as one.

''Good! Move out helljumpers!''

The thirty eight helljumpers filed out the door in rows of two. Being squad leader, Daniel took point. The ODSTs jogged at a steady pace, their weapons sweeping the corridors. The light suddenly flickered and died. The ODST activated their low-light vision enhancement which lit their vision outlining hostile units in red, friendlies in green, weapons in blue and objects of interest in yellow. Ten combat forms suddenly appeared around the corner fifteen metres ahead, banishing machine guns, plasma rifles and spikers, followed by around five times as many infection forms walking on the ceiling and the walls. Daniel took charge, ''open fire! Use short controlled bursts!''

The ODST's opened up, cutting down four of the combat forms and a dozen infection forms. Suddenly, the floor up and to the right, lurched to one side throwing the ODSTs off balance, some even tripping to the floor. Sirens began to wail, threatening to overwhelm the soldier's ears even with the protection their helmets provided. Daniel and four other ODSTs managed to stay upright, clutching their weapons. The remaining infection parasites took advantage of this and swarmed three ODSTs. The squid like creatures buried inside the troopers' armour, clothing and flesh and consumed them. The men screamed and twitched before sprouting yellow flesh, claws, fangs and dirty foot long tentacles.

Three flamethrower wielding ODSTs advanced on the things and sent fifteen foot long jets of flame into the parasite's ranks, cooking a dozen and setting the rest alight. One combat form managed to stand still long enough to fire its plasma rifle into the nearest ODST's stomach, dropping the man. Said parasite screeched before dying from the flames, the rest soon following.

Total time since the lights failed: nineteen seconds.

Daniel quickly did a headcount; three dead, two wounded who were being treated by the others. The first had taken a plasma beam to his stomach, burning his armour and flesh. Two others were applying bioform to the still conscious man's wound to keep his insides inside until he could be given proper medical attention. The second had received a fractured skull at the hands of the combat form and was unconscious. Two ODSTs were breaking out a stretcher to lift him.

End of chapter 1


	2. Chapter 2

**First would like to say thanks to those who have taken the time to read my story. This is my very first fanfic and I hope you all like the second chapter. Please review and please point out anything I did wrong or I could improve on.**

Chapter 2, feet first into hell

Sergeant Major Craig Jenkins, fireteam Omega, felt briefly satisfied as he blasted off the head of the last remaining combat form with his battle rifle and groaned. Scanning from behind the barricade for more hostiles and seeing none, Jenkins gave the all clear and gestured to the others comprised of his three remaining squad mates, two vehicle technicians and three navel sailors who gave sighs of relief. He and the rest of his team had rushed to the hanger in response to fireteam Shadows' screams and literally ran into a dozen combat forms just outside the mess hall. Logan, Kayla and Oliver were torn to shreds in seconds before Jenkins could even register what had happened. They had retreated into the mess, met up with several technicians and navel crew.

Craig had quickly taken command of the group and the humans quickly made a makeshift barricade comprised of a dozen overturned tables. The things had been relentless in their assault and had scored kills, but the crew had just managed to hold out. His remaining squad mates Ethan, Teddy and Lisa were managing to remain calm as was one of the techs Wendell Brennan while the others weren't having much luck. Not that Craig could blame them. Seeing your best friends whom you had served with for many years die and then coming back as a hideous parasite with tentacles and mucus coloured flesh did not exactly help out your mental health.

''Oh god! Oh god! Their faces! They were all infected!'' one man cried, his head in his hands.

A sudden hoard of infection forms piled through the door like a tidal wave. Another tremor throughout the _Spirit of Fire_ threw the humans to the floor. Craig, acting on reflexes, threw out his hands to break his fall. He grabbed his battle rifle and blasted a tri of infection forms, their bodies exploding like wet paper.

By then the forms had reached the humans and latched onto their bodies. Craig threw off a pair of forms off of his armour and opened up into mass of parasites with his battle rifle. More parasites latched onto his body and began trying to dig their way inside. Craig dropped his rifle and drew his combat knife and sliced several forms on his stomach and chest. Craig struggled to remain calm as he felt a form land on the back of his neck, his arms failing to reach his back. A careful three round burst from Lisa shredded the form to pieces, scratching the back of his neck.

Three human combat forms who used to be naval sailors charged Craig, banishing pistols. Craig stepped back several paces, trying to put distance between himself and the combat forms.

''Teddy, throw me the shotgun now!''

Without hesitation, Teddy shrugged the strap of the weapon off of his body and threw the shotgun like a Frisbee using his right hand. Craig caught the shotgun and blasted the closest combat form. The second one jumped over Craig's head as he racked the slide, twisting to the face the parasite. The combat from swung a claw, aiming for his head. Craig ducked the blow, bending his knees before thrusting the shotgun upwards into the thing's stomach directly below the ribcage and pulled the trigger; blasting the combat parasite as the red hot buckshot tore it in half. The third form jumped onto his back.

''Craig stand still!'' Wendell shouted, raising his pistol. The tech geek fired a three round burst; blowing the combat form's head off. Craig nodded his thanks, racked the slide, took aim and fired into the parasite's ranks; popping a dozen infection forms like balloons. Wendell, Teddy and Lisa and the remaining sailor (Samuel) as well as Craig managed to stay alive while the others fell. Just as the human's firepower downed the last of the infection forms, a brute combat form barged through the door wielding a fuel rod cannon.

''Shits about to hit the fan guys. Get out now!'' Teddy shouted, recognising the heavy covenant weapon. The humans barged for the side exit located behind the benches.

Twenty metres away from the door.

The form noticed them.

Fifteen metres away.

The form raised the cannon to its shoulder.

Ten metres away.

The form aimed.

Five metres away.

''Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!'

Lisa reached the exit and shoved aside the sliding door, the others only a few feet behind.

The form squeezed the trigger.

The weapon kicked against the former brute's shoulder as the radioactive fuel rod exploded from the weapon's tip and raced across the room and hit the sliding door a second after Samuel closed it. The bright green radioactive explosion blasted the door off its hinges and shattered the surrounding walls; the explosion gripped the crew and threw them several metres forward. They landed on the other side of the corridor amongst a pile of rubble. Craig felt a burning pain in his lower back before blacking out.

Jerome-092, Alice-130 and Douglas-042's combined firepower tore the final combat from to shreds. The three SPARTAN phase II super soldiers stood outside the bridge bearing assault rifles. They were the only ones left defending the bridge. ODST Echo platoon had all been taken down and reanimated into those things. The SPARTANs had kindly put the helljumpers out of their suffering.

''Clear!'' Jerome said calmly, like they had just been for a walk in a child's park. This was soon proven wrong when over thirty brute combat forms appeared from around the corridor, bearing spikers, plasma rifles and gravity hammers. They noticed the three SPARTANs and charged, screeching for blood.

''You just had to say that didn't you?'' Alice grumbled, sounded more annoyed then sacred. Jerome shrugged and nodded to Douglas who lobbed two grenades at the combat forms, killing a fifth of them.

''How's it going there soldier?'' Cutter's voice filed Jerome's head from his COM ear piece.

''Not too bad'' said Jerome, grappling with a reanimated brute for its gravity hammer. He finally wrestled the eight foot weapon from the parasite and bashed it to a pulp. ''Any news from the helljumpers?''

''Negative, Charlie is still pinned down outside the reactor core and Delta have their backs to the wall at the barracks. You're on your own until we can prime the self destruct and destroy any remaining classified data stored in the data banks. The helljumpers could use a hand after this Red team.''

''You do mean me right? I am the one doing all the work here Captain'' Serina's voice was casual, containing mock anger.

''Understood sir'' Alice said, punching a combat form right through the chest, her gloved fist ruptured from its back clutching the brute's heart in her fist. She pulled back and a brute form with another brute's spiker. After another two minutes of combat, the eight foot tall green armoured Douglas finished off the last form in the horde with a sharp thrust from his captured energy sword, a trophy from a dead covenant elite in Harvest.

Captain Cutter appeared in the doorway behind the SPARTANs clutching Serina's chip in his left hand, a sliver pistol in his right. Standing behind him was the bridges navel crew and Professor Ellen Anders. The scientist was short with banded black hair, wearing a red sleeveless shirt, boots and green cargo pants as well as a black ruckus sack containing what the SPARTANs guessed were her laptops and research.

''Hello SPARTANs, dangerous, crazy, conspiracy escape from crashing ship plotted to unknown planet up and ready to go'' Serina's voice was laced with her usual dry, sarcastic humour

''Stow it Serina!''

''Aye aye sir!''

Cutter couldn't see the SPARTANs faces behind their golden visors but could hear them snickering. Cutter shook his head, handing the AIs data chip to Jerome who plugged it into a slot located at the back of his helmet.

The group moved from the bridge before arriving at the barracks. If the SPARTANs had run at their fastest they would have reached their destination in a fifth of the time but were forced to a small jog as the others were barely able to keep up.

The SPARTANs took down the parasites pinning down the ODSTs who had barricaded themselves inside before moving to the reactor to assist the ODSTs there as well. The ODSTs were annoyed for having to be rescued but were grateful never the less. On the move they encountered other survivors and combat forms. Thanks to Serina's layout of the ship as well as the SPARTAN's HUDs and energy shielding they were able to push through with minimal casualties. Jerome, Alice and Douglas took up the front assisted by the ODSTs and marines while the non military took up the rear.

Together their combined firepower turned any infection or combat form into mincemeat that tried to attack them, _'but we are still suffering casualties'_ Cutter thought as a yellow spike from a combat form's spiker punctured the throat of a marine two feel ahead of him. _'Come on Sanders, we need that hanger secured now!'_

Daniel Sander's platoon made it to the hanger without suffering any more casualties. Several times they encountered a dozen or so infection forms which were taken down easily with the ODST's flamethrowers. The ODSTs burst through the hanger doors and opened fire on countless brute and human combat forms that were standing on vehicles and some were even hanging from the ceiling like monkeys. The forms, sprouting decaying skin and tentacles, quickly returned fire. Plasma and projectile fire hammered into the ODST's ranks and hit targets. One ODST took a plasma bolt to his face and fell with a scream.

''Take cover!'' Daniel shouted, hurling himself behind a Warthog. He rose and fired a three round burst into a reanimated brute's head and ducked back behind cover. Vicky and two other ODSTs Rodriguez and Howard joined him behind the vehicle and took turns firing bursts from their battle rifles before ducking back behind cover. The flamethrowers proved their effectiveness against parasite, their wielders set aflame scores of forms, making them easy targets for the ODSTs. Sanders began noticed a difference between the forms; the brute ones were more prone to melee their opponents with their weapons such as Howard who had been decapitated by the blow. The human ones seemed to prefer shooting their weapons such as pistols, battle rifles and shotguns from a distance. 'Perhaps they take on characteristics from their hosts' Daniel thought.

The firefight lasted several minutes and the results were as follows; the floor was littered with bodies both human and parasite. Four of Daniel's ODSTs were decreased and another three had injuries. ''Alright Squads one and two load the birds, three treat the wounded and load them into the Pelicans and four guard the hanger entrances. '' Daniel's remaining able bodied troops moved out to follow his orders. Daniel tapped his COM, ''Captain Cutter this is Lt Sanders. The hanger is secure.''

''That's very good work lieutenant. The _Spirit_ is entering the atmosphere now. Bravo, Charlie and Delta have taken heavy casualties and my fireteams are spread thin holding off the majority of the parasite. They couldn't have held out much longer. Keep the hanger secure for as long as you can. After the last bird leaves head to the SOEIV pods. Serina has programmed the coordinates for a small plain just a dozen klicks west of the predicted crash site. Pelican dropships will disperse Mongooses and Warthogs for you to use at your disposal. Cutter out.''

Craig Jenkins used the wall for support as he dragged himself to his feet, right hand clutching his bleeding side, left clutching his shotgun. The sirens were still blaring, red lights flashing. Several burned bodies littered the floor. Craig felt sorrow, but he quickly pushed it down. A moan of pain brought his attention to Wendell who was trapped under a piece of the wall, leaving only his bloodied face and feet visible. He appeared to be unaware of his surroundings, muttering so quietly Craig couldn't understand what he was saying.

''Ooohh god . . . . help . . . . it hurts!''

Craig dropped his shotgun and placed his hands under the rubble. Tensing, he groaned as his muscles strained to lift the piece of wreckage. Slowly, it lifted and Craig threw it to the side. He grabbed the barley conscious man's arm and hoisted him to his feet. Supporting the injured technician using his left arm, Craig bent down and grabbed Lisa's abandoned assault rifle with his right before standing back up to his full height. The brute combat form appeared from amongst the smoke, refusing to go back to the hell in which it came from. Anger erupted like a volcano, Craig screamed and fired his weapon, bullets tore through its flesh like tissue paper.

Daniel's troops were in the middle of preparing the birds for launch. Pelicans, Hawks, Falcons, Hornets, Vultures and Longswords were being armed with guns and laden down with as many supplies as possible. Rodriguez jogged up to Daniel, ''sir we've encountered problem.''

''What is it Corporal?''

''We don't have enough dropships to carry all of our ground transports to the planet. Also, the Elephants are too heavy for the birds to lift and the Scorpions, Grizzlies, Wolverines and Gremlins will take too long to load unlike the smaller transports. Even then, we would still have to leave several of them behind.''

Daniel mentally groaned. He would have preferred to have more heavy armour watching his men's backs in an unknown and possibly hostile environment. They would have to make do.

''Making room for the crew and getting them off this ship is our number one objective. We'll just have to salvage what we can when the _Spirit of Fire_ crashes.''

''Sir!''

The remaining crew entered the hanger bay, some dragging/carrying injured friends, others carrying more supplies. Marines, navy staff and science personal boarded the mutable aircraft and joined Daniel's wounded troopers. The green jumpsuit wearing pilots including Sarah jumped into the cockpits, eager to fly again. Daniel spied Cutter, Anders the three SPARTANs and several high ranking looking naval officers board the same Pelican.

Suddenly, a wave of twisting, screeching, gun waving combat forms flooded into the hanger via the doors. Shouts of surprise and fear spread throughout the crew as they desperately tried to repel the attack. A half dozen men and women dressed in naval uniforms standing in front of the doors bearing pistols saw the threat too late and were taken down by a hail of plasma fire. ODSTs and marines as well as every crew member with a gun fired into the parasite's ranks. More forms poured in like a wave of water, replacing those who fell before them.

Several crew members paused as the ear piercing noises produced by their weapons became clicking as their magazines ran dry. The forms took advantage of this and spread out even further. Suddenly most of the forms blew apart to bloody bits of brown and red flesh. Daniel suddenly saw an opportunity and took it.

''Use grenades now!''

Daniel, Vicky, Rodriguez, and a dozen other soldiers ripped green, oval shaped explosives from their harnesses, pulled the pins, counted to three and released. The grenades arched through the air. They sailed before descending to the floor at the parricide's feet. The explosives detonated; blasting the remaining creatures into a bloody paste. Daniel turned and saw the source of the gunfire came in the shape of the machine guns mounted on Sarah's Longsword. The daredevil Longsword fighter pilot gave the ODST a wave before turning and flying out of the hanger bay and into the blue sky. More transports began to follow, leaving one after the other.

Making a note to thank Sarah, Daniel and his men continued to assist in the evacuation; helping load supply crates and caches into the birds while covering the doors for more forms. More combat forms attempted to interfere, but were shot and killed without any losses. The last aircraft to leave was the pelican dropship carrying Cutter, Anders and the SPARTANs. Before sitting down in his seat, Cutter turned and saluted the ODSTs. The door to the pelican's cargo bay closed and it slowly rose into the air and slowly began to move towards the outside.

Two rockets slammed into the pelican and it burst into flames.

Daniel and his ODSTs turned towards the hanger door, rifles blasting the rocket launcher carrying human combat form from existence.

But the damage had already been done.

Unable to stay airborne, the pelican dipped its nose forward, its engines whining in protest. The ODSTs could only watch in horror as the pelican dropships left wing ripped off as its thrusters dragged itself across the floor towards the morning sky outside the hanger. It dipped from sight as soon as it cleared the hanger, fire and smoke emerging from its end.

''Shit! Captain do you read me? Captain come in now!''

No response. Only static.

''Fuck!'' Daniel shouted, kicking a mongoose bike so hard that it flipped over.

''Sarah this is Sanders do you read me?''

''Loud and clear Daniel'' Sarah responded.

''Be advised, Cutter's bird is down. I say again Cutter's bird is down. Do a sweep of the area. Find that pelican.''

''Understood Daniel, turning around for a sweep right now. By the way you need to get off that ship now. Its picking up speed and losing altitude Your gonna hit the ground in less than three minutes. Riley out.''

Another tremor rocked the ship, sirens flashing red and wailing.

''Move! Move! Move it helljumpers! Get to the SOEIV pods.''

Daniel and his remaining twenty six troopers jogged out of the hanger bay and made their way to the SOEIV pods located in the _Spirit of Fire's _drop bay. The drop pods were all laid put in rows against the steel wall. Each pod was black in colour, standing eighteen feet tall and eight point five feet in width. The ODSTs all jumped into their crash seats located in their individual pods. Daniel shoved his pack and weapons onto the equipment rack before strapping himself into the seat, his body facing the patch. Daniel shoved the hatch shut.

''Alright is everyone ready?'' Daniel asked, receiving affirmatives from his squad mates. Daniel shoved his fist against the red button located next to the hatch, starting the thirty second launch sequence for all the other pods as well as his own.

Twenty-five seconds.

Daniel's pod began to turn until the viewpoint was facing off into the sky. Daniel was amazed by the sight he beheld; deserts, mountains, forests, plains and oceans that shined with beauty.

Fifteen seconds.

Daniel's pod began to vibrate, rattling the bones in his body. He clenched the controls harder and muttered a silent prayer.

Five seconds.

''Prepare to drop!''

Zero.

Daniel's pod blasted free from the _Spirit of Fire _with so much force Daniel nearly backed out. The pod cleared the ship and began its descent. Daniel began to feel unbelievably hot as the air he breathed threatened to blister his throat. It lasted about ten seconds before ending suddenly which Daniel was thankful for. Another few moments and he would have been cooked alive. Outside, his viewpoint, Daniel saw several other pods racing their way towards the ground, one of which was on fire. Daniel deep sorrow for the unfortunate ODST. He just hoped that it wasn't his sister's pod.

In the background, the _Spirit of Fire_ raced past the pods. It was aiming for the mountains, most of which dwarfed the _Spirit of Fire_. The two point five kilometre long Phoenix class colony ship began its final descend.

''Oh shit!''

Craig and Wendell stood in the centre of the hanger bay which was completely deprived of aircraft.

They had missed the evacuation!

Craig looked outside the hanger bay where the ground was rushing up to meet them. They only had seconds to live. A idea suddenly formed in Craig's mind. An idea so crazy that it might possibly work. Craig dragged the semi conscious man over to a behemoth sized rectangle shaped vehicle that was twenty five metres in length and weighed two hundred and five tonnes that travelled on rubber tracks; the UNSC M312 Heavy Recovery Vehicle or known by its more popular name 'Elephant.'

Craig pushed Wendell up the ramp and down the its hatch. Wendell fell down and Craig jumped down after him, closing the door after him. Craig heard the sound of sirens and screeching metal before he crashed into the Elephant's hull and he blacked out.


End file.
